Two month old infant C was born with a “severe brain abnormality or malformation of his brain.” There is no available treatment and his life expectancy is less than one year. The NHS Trust asked the court for a declaration that it is C’s best interest to not receive intubation, mechanical ventilation, or any resuscitative measures.

Following the advice in previous judgments, the court drew up a “balance sheet.” The court found that because C had limited awareness of his environment, he derived limited benefits. Against those benefits, the court balanced the pain, discomfort, and distress that C suffers multiple times every day.

The court concluded “It is in C’s best interests for the court to make the declarations sought by the NHS Trust because the intervention and invasive treatments which his parents seek confer no real benefit and subject C to continuous, and ultimately futile, pain, suffering and distress; it follows that it is lawful for the treatments to be withheld.”

#Bioethics News: In its decision to approve two drugs for orange and grapefruit trees, the E.P.A. largely ignored objections from the C.D.C. and the F.D.A., which fear that expanding their use in cash crops could fuel antibiotic resistance in humans. https://t.co/9hAvsohLvB